


Standing Up For The Little Guy

by PumpkinPantaloons



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Gen, Kuroko has some problems but mostly doesn't realize it, M/M, aomine and kuroko not realizing they're boyfriends, basketball nerds, pre-potential relationship, the GoM love their phantom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-27
Updated: 2014-10-06
Packaged: 2018-02-19 00:21:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2367401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PumpkinPantaloons/pseuds/PumpkinPantaloons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroko seems to have a self-preservation issue in the face of bullies, and his teammates can’t always be there to save him. Takes place sometime during the Teikou arch before things go to shit. I reference what happens in the KnB light novel, Replace, but I don’t think I need to warn of spoilers if you haven’t read it yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You're Overreacting

**Author's Note:**

> This kind of switches between Aomine and Kuroko's perspectives. Aomine always refers to Kuroko as Tetsu. Kuroko is polite, even in his head.

Aomine’s face darkens the moment he sees Kuroko, because he’s got a split lip and a bruise on his cheek, and for that someone is going to get their head knocked off.

Kuroko adjusts the tie of his Teikou school uniform, and then his large blue eyes flick up to Aomine’s expression. “Don’t make that face.” The deadpan request changes nothing.

“Tetsu, who did that to you?” Aomine asks instead, every muscle in his body tense, his hands balled into fists.

“Aomine-kun, it doesn’t matter.” Kuroko responds, his tone resigned. He doubts Aomine will drop it, but they have practice soon, and he is especially looking forward to the grueling workout for some reason.

“Tetsu,” the ace returns, drawing out the ‘s’ in his name in annoyance, “what happened?”

“Aomine-kun, we will be late for practice.” Kuroko tries again, even if he knows dissuading his companion is futile.

“Then stop stalling, and tell me what the hell happened!” Aomine can already guess, because he knows Tetsu, but he can’t tell if Tetsu’s provoked whoever did this to him or not. Not that their punishment will change. It would just be good to know exactly what happened.

Even though Kuroko keeps his expression schooled in a blank mask (especially since moving his mouth tugs at the cut which hurts a bit), he is inwardly grateful for Aomine caring enough to be mad on his behalf. “Two guys were bullying a first year, and I told them to stop.”

For a moment Aomine just gapes at him, didn’t they _just_ deal with this situation a few weeks ago? How did Tetsu find trouble so easily? He shakes his head. “And they hit you?”

“A few times,” Kuroko clarifies blandly, “but then they left.”

“Who,” Aomine’s scowl gets even darker, an expression Kuroko has not seen very often, “I’m going to _kill_ them! Who was it?”

Kuroko shrugs. “I don’t know. I didn’t recognize them.”

“Where were you?”

Kuroko just blinks back at him, “Aomine-kun, we need to go to practice.”

“Where were you, Tetsu?” Aomine almost hisses in frustration. He wants to shake the answer out of his friend; his skin prickling with anger.

“I am not going to tell Aomine-kun, because he will do something reckless,” Kuroko states.

“Oh, you mean like you did?” Aomine counters, “Tetsu!” He feels hot and his nails are biting into the palms of his hands. He can’t focus on anything but the cut on Tetsu’s determined, calm lips.

“No.”

“Tetsu! You aggravating little-” Aomine cuts himself off, taking several deep breaths. “Fine, there’s no point in yelling at you, you’re not going to tell me,” then he gets a somewhat mischievous, self-satisfied smirk, “but you’re going to have to explain this to Akashi.”

Kuroko winces slightly, he hadn’t really considered that. Akashi will be mad, especially if he sees the other bruises on his stomach and his left arm. Aomine starts heading for the gym, and Kuroko slides in behind him, lightly grabbing his arms.

Aomine’s heart jumps at the touch, and for a second he worries its gone straight out of his chest. But nope, he’s not dead, so it just feels like that for some reason. “Oi! What the hell are you doing?”

“I am going to stay behind Aomine-kun during practice so that Akashi-kun doesn’t see me.” He explains simply.

Aomine laughs at that, forgetting his anger for a moment, “Not a chance, Tetsu, you can’t keep up with me.”

Kuroko scratches his cheek thoughtfully. “You are correct. Murasakibara-kun would be a better choice.”

Aomine laughs again, and Kuroko fights down the urge to smile.

They remain silent for the rest of the trip, having to sprint the last bit to get to the gym on time. The bruising makes it a little painful to breathe fast, but Kuroko ignores it. They are the only two in the locker room when they get there, so they begin frantically ripping off their clothes to change into shorts and t-shirts.

Aomine glances over when he hears a very soft, sharp intake of breath. His stomach flips. “Fuck, Tetsu, you’re covered in bruises! Are you sure you can even practice?”

“I will be fine, Aomine-kun,” Kuroko responds a little tersely, self-consciously tugging down his shirt. There weren’t _that_ many bruises. “Aomine-kun is overreacting.”

Kuroko is annoyed, even as his heart constricts, beating faster. He’s annoyed because if it were anyone else on the team, beyond an offhand comment, Aomine wouldn’t care at all that they’d shown up with a few bruises. But his heart is beating faster for the exact same reason; Aomine cares that much about him. No one has ever-

Aomine turns towards him, their lockers close enough that the taller boy has to look directly down at him. “Tetsu,” his tone is surprisingly soft, “could you possibly not be so stubborn, just this once?” He brings up a large hand to ruffle Tetsu’s light blue hair, “you’re going to hurt yourself worse. And then how am I going to play basketball with you?”

“Aomine-kun,” Kuroko says faintly, fully intending to point out that he is not made of glass, no matter how much everyone seems to think he is, but something that stops his breath passes through Aomine’s dark blue eyes. Kuroko has no idea what the look was, but it makes him do something he never does; give in. “Ok. I will talk to Akashi-kun and see what he says.” Aomine, warm hand still resting on Kuroko’s head, lets out a breath, not looking smug that he’s won the argument as Kuroko had expected he might; he just has that unnamable expression that makes his stomach tighten.

Aomine realizes that if he wasn’t already wearing his shirt, Tetsu is so close he would have been able to feel his soft, warm breath on his chest. And why the fuck does that even matter? “Stay here,” Aomine finally says after a few moments of them just staring at each other, “I’ll get the captain. If you go out there, Kise’s going to shit a brick and Midorima is going to be even more insufferable than normal.”

“Aomine-kun is very kind.” Kuroko points out, truly impressed with the ace’s thoughtfulness… and that he’d thought it through at all.

Aomine grumbles, blushing as he jerks his hand away from Tetsu’s head. “Oi Tetsu, you say some of the most embarrassing shit.” He spins around and takes long strides, exiting the locker room into the gym.

Kuroko has plenty of time to contemplate slipping out so that he won’t have to speak with Akashi-kun, and just go to the park to practice instead, but it wasn’t like the bruises would magically be gone tomorrow. He also has time to continue to be baffled by Aomine’s behavior, trying to wrack his brain for another time he’d seen that foreign look in Aomine’s dark blue eyes. He can’t think of a single time. He doesn’t understand it.

The door leading to the gym opens, letting in the loud sounds of practice for a moment before Akashi-kun enters the locker room and the door shuts behind him again. “Lift up your shirt,” he orders without preamble, his red eyes watching him carefully, also wearing a weird, unreadable expression.

Kuroko complies, trying very hard to hide the wince at the small shock of pain the movement causes in his left bicep. Akashi walks around him, gaze appraising and serious. When he’s standing back in front of Kuroko, he lets out a very soft sigh, motioning with his hand for him to pull his shirt back down.

“Aomine explained what happened, or at least as much as you told him,” Akashi says, “Is it true? Did you confront two bullies by yourself?” Kuroko nods his head once. “Your actions are very admirable, Kuroko-kun, but you must consider yourself as well. The outcome of the situation could have been considerably worse.”

“I know Akashi-kun,” Kuroko responds, “but they were-”

“And you didn’t think to call the authorities? Or for help?” Akashi asks, his tone the pinnacle of patience.

Kuroko lightly scratches his cheek, “I forgot to think about it.”

Akashi motions towards a bench and they both sit down, “Kuroko-kun, you are very important to…” The redhead pauses for a moment before continuing, “…the team, and you not considering the consequences of your reckless actions is unacceptable.” Kuroko stays quiet because while he is surprised, he knows Akashi isn’t finished and he doesn’t want to interrupt. “You even sprained your wrist only a few weeks ago, but still tried to play during practice. What would we have done if you’d made it worse?”

“But I didn’t want to miss practice,” Kuroko answers, his voice unintentionally small.

“You are not going to fall behind if you sit and observe for one day,” Akashi counters, his tone a strange mix between gentle and exasperated. “Remember, you’re supposed to be my assistant captain, your observational skills are just as important to the team as your skills on the court.”

Kuroko wonders if the surprise shows on his face, and then realizes with Akashi, even though his eyes have widened only slightly, the captain definitely notices. Why was everyone getting so upset about this? It was not that bad.

Was… he worried about falling behind if he missed a practice?

Akashi sighs almost imperceptibly, red eyes seeming to see right into his thoughts. “Your training menu for the day is to stretch in here, and then I want you to observe the rest of practice, but no one is allowed to see you. I mean no one. If your appearance disrupts practice, you will be out for the rest of the week. Do you understand?”

“Yes Akashi-kun.”

“And you will go home with Momoi and Aomine for the rest of the week.” Kuroko opens his mouth, but Akashi holds up a hand, silencing him. “Do not argue with me, Kuroko-kun, or else your punishment for your recklessness will be more severe.”

Kuroko nods, annoyed, but knows better than to argue with the captain. “Yes, Akashi-kun.”

The redhead gives his own sigh and then stands. “I wish you understood our concerns, Kuroko.”

“I underst-”

“No,” Akashi interrupts him, “you understand the instructions, but you can’t seem to comprehend that we-” Akashi interrupts himself this time with a small shake of his head and another sigh. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.” The captain turns briskly on his heel and walks back into the gym, leaving Kuroko blinking owlishly after him, wondering what he’d been about to say.


	2. Chapter Two

Kise first does the expected when he sees Kuroko the next day (because Kuroko took his instructions from Akashi to not be seen during practice _very_ seriously), and clings to him, wailing about his poor Kurokocchii. It actually hurts quite a bit because of the bruises Kise doesn’t know about, so he tells Kise to get away from him as politely as possible. Kise complies very reluctantly.

And then he does the thing that Kuroko was not expecting. His eyes narrow, almost cold, in the same way that Aomine’s had when he’d first seen the state of his face. “Who hurt you, Kurokocchii?” His voice is low.

“Just give it up, Kise,” Aomine interjects, straightening from where he was leaning against the wall leading off the school campus, “he won’t say.” He's already tried a few more times since he’d first seen the bruises, and bets Kise pestering him will only make Tetsu more stubborn about withholding the information.

“Because he’s trying to prevent you lot from doing something stupid.” Midorima interjects, pushing up his glasses as he walks up behind Kise.

Murasakibara is trailing behind him, looking sleepy, a bag of chips in his huge hands, “Kurochin is being too stubborn~,” he observes before stuffing several chips in his mouth at once.

Tetsu scratches his cheek, and Aomine can see him wince a little. The splotchy, dark purple bruise, in very stark contrast to his pale skin, is really starting to piss Aomine off because it keeps making his stomach do that weird thing where it feels like you're falling, and he _really_ wants to beat up the guys who put it there in hopes that it’ll make the feeling go away. He’s thankful Akashi forced Tetsu to walk home with him because it mostly takes the edge off his anger since, for at least a week, he can keep an eye on Tetsu. Even if the little shit sulks the whole way home.

“Let’s go get ice cream.” Kuroko suggests blandly, instead of what he really wants to say, which is to demand that everyone stop asking him questions. Even Akashi seems to be taking the whole situation too seriously and made him observe during practice for the second day in a row. All the attention is making him uncomfortable. Aomine keeps giving him that weird look he doesn't understand, and it makes his skin feel prickly. He contemplates trying to slip away, but everyone is so focused on him he thinks it might actually be difficult to do so.

“Are we going for ice cream?” Momoi-san pops up, slipping her arms around Kuroko’s right arm, careful not to give him one of her energetic hugs; he’d almost squeaked from the pain when she’d given him one before they’d walked home after practice the day before.

“And so I can copy your notes,” Aomine admits shamelessly with a yawn, barely attempting to cover his mouth.

“When are you not?” Midorima asks airily.

Aomine rolls his eyes, but doesn’t respond. He secretly appreciates that the sinister four-eyes is just as pissed at Tetsu for being a stubborn idiot as he is. Midorima had overheard Aomine when he’d been telling Akashi what’d happened to Tetsu, and had spent the rest of practice calling the phantom unflattering names under his breath every time someone passed the ball to him. It was actually kind of funny.

“B-but, Kurokocchii…” Kise trails off, his eyebrows drawing towards each other, biting his lip.

“Please stop whining and respect Kuroko’s wishes, Kise,” Midorima snaps, “If he wants to be an unreasonable idiot, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Kuroko resists the urge to roll his eyes. “That’s rude, Midorima-kun.”

Midorima huffs, and Kise scowls at him, but surprisingly doesn’t argue with the green-haired shooting guard.

Instead Kise fusses over Kuroko the entire walk to the convenience store, petting his hair and rubbing his face against his unbruised cheek and crying his fake, overly dramatic tears, no matter how many times Kuroko tells him to stop touching him. Aomine even yanks Kise off of him several times while calling him all sorts of inappropriate names, but it barely fazes the blonde.

While they are eating ice cream out in front of the store, Kuroko talks to Murasakibara and Momoi-san about a new flavor of chocolate candy Murasakibara found, and Aomine tries to tell Kise to stop talking about boring things.

Midorima, silently watching them, calmly pulls his phone from his school bag and flips it open. For a few moments Aomine thinks an actual sinister smile appears on the megane’s face, but it quickly disappears back to his normally irritable expression. Midorima quickly types a message back, and then tucks his phone in his bag.

After they finish their ice cream, Midorima takes his leave, dragging Murasakibara with him.

"Let's get you home, Tetsu-kun." Satsuki loops her arm lightly around Tetsu's as the three of them start walking.

"Ok," Kuroko acquiesces, disappointed they're so adamant about escorting him. He wants to go to the street court by his parents' place and practice at least a little bit; he's starting to get antsy. He's pretty sure he could slip away if it was just Momoi-san, but Aomine would notice, and would get mad at him. Maybe that's why he keeps running his fingers over his hair, to make sure he's still walking beside him.

Aomine keeps touching the top of Tetsu's head as they walk, fingers brushing over the soft blue hair. He's not doing it on purpose, he just keeps catching himself doing it. His shadow is tolerating the contact from both him and Satsuki surprisingly well. All three of them are silent (Satsuki is a shock,) but it doesn't seem uncomfortable to Aomine. He sees Tetsu's eyes flick towards the park as they pass it, and Aomine's stomach knots, because he doesn't want to say no to his shadow.

"Aomine-kun, can we play? I didn't get to play during practice yesterday or today." Kuroko tries very hard to keep the frustration out of his voice.

Satsuki chews on her lower lip, and Aomine lets out a frustrated sigh. "You know we can't, Tetsu. Akashi said so."

"But I'm fine. Everyone is being too careful." Kuroko purses his lips, He flicks his large, blue-eyed gaze to Aomine, "Just for a little while? Akashi-kun will understand."

Aomine almost caves at the small, desperate hitch in Tetsu's plea, but Satsuki shoots him a sharp look and his shoulders droop. "I promise I'll practice extra long with you tomorrow to make up for it. Ok?" He ruffles Tetsu's hair with an apologetic smile. Tetsu doesn't respond, the outward extent of his frustrated pout.

"Your observations helped me out a lot today, Tetsu-kun!" Satsuki chirps in, smiling up at Kuroko, since she has to bend over a little to cling to him.

Kuroko sighs slightly. They are trying to be helpful and it saps his irritation at the whole situation. They are both just listening to Akashi-kun, and he is a very good captain. "I'm glad I could be of help, Momoi-san." She beams at him. By the time they reach his house, silence has fallen again. They wish him a good night, and wait until he goes inside before leaving; leaving him no chance of escape.

Almost immediately after they watch Tetsu dejectedly walk inside, Aomine gets a text from Akashi that he can tell Kise is copied on. It’s got the address of where the two assholes that beat Tetsu up are at.

_I have already sent Midorima and Murasakibara to that location to identify the two people; to alert the proper authorities, of course. I just wanted to keep you in the loop. As your captain, I urge you not to do anything rash._

Aomine grins, flipping his phone closed. Satsuki is walking next to him, hands behind her back, pretending to be as innocent as can be.

“Hey Satsuki, mind if I take a little side trip on the way home?”

“Not at all, Dai-chan,” she says sweetly, “not at all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh… they’re probably just going to have a sternly worded conversation with the bullies about hitting people, while Murasakibara towers over them. Yes. I figured Momoi was the one that did all the intelligence-gathering (she basically just found the right first year and asked them), and Akashi verified where the bullies were. Nobody messes with the GoM’s Kuroko.
> 
> This story was just going to be two chapters, but my hand slipped and I started a third. Hopefully I'll have that one finished soon.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the exception of Murasakibara, none of them looked like middle schoolers that night. They had the aura of the Generation of Miracles; just as focused on winning off the court as they were on it. Those thugs would never go near Kuroko ever again.

The four of them stand in the poorly-lit park, moon near-full, looking in the direction the bullies had fled.

Aomine stretches, his back popping. His scowl breaks into a grin.

Kise, standing next to him, brushes strands of hair away from his forehead, the smile spreading to him. “What would Kurokocchi say?” His tone pitches to something near monotone, a pretty good copy, “good teamwork, everyone.”

“We’re not supposed to tell Kurochin, right?” Murasakibara drawls out, “Akichin says it’s a secret~”

Kise nods, “That’s right! We don’t want to worry Kurokocchi!”

Midorima pushes his glasses up his nose with a finger. “It’s too bad our information was incorrect and the people we were looking for weren’t here,” he lies pointedly, checking the tape on the fingers of his left hand to make sure it hasn’t unraveled.

Murasakibara gives him a confused look, and then clearly gives up trying to figure out what Midorima said and yawns. “I’m sleepy.”

Midorima sighs, making a small shooing motion with his hand. “Then go.”

“Ok, I’ll be going now,” the purple-haired giant says lazily before lumbering off.

“Well, I feel a lot better,” Aomine announces cheerfully.

“I don’t,” Kise counters. “What if they come back with more guys and hurt Kurokocchi even worse?”

“And admit they were humiliated by three middle schoolers and a purple-haired giant? Unlikely,” Midorima responds with a very small, cold smile.

Kise hums thoughtfully at that. “I suppose you have a point. But why would anyone hurt poor Kurokocchi in the first place? He’s just too cute!” The blonde wails, and Aomine can tell from the exaggerated pout that Midorima has convinced Kise that their phantom is safe. At least from those guys.

“Because people are assholes, Kise. Duh.” Aomine still offers, which he thinks is quite helpful.

“I need to meet with Akashi, you two should go home,” Midorima announces, completely ignoring Kise’s question and Aomine’s input.

“Yeah,” Aomine drawls, stretching, “Satsuki is waiting for me anyway.” He leaves them without waiting for an answer, heading to the park entrance where his childhood friend is standing.

She gives him a devious smile. “They won’t be hurting my Tetsu-kun again, right?” Her tone is pitched to sound innocent, but Aomine isn’t fooled in the least.

Aomine grins, “Not unless they have a death wish. And I doubt it; I think one of them almost pissed his pants.”

Satsuki scrunches up her nose, “Eww, Dai-chan, that’s gross. I didn’t need to hear that.” And then the scary smile returns, “But I’m glad things went well.” She nods to herself.

“Guess you found out who did it for us?”

Satsuki gives him a slow smile, “Intelligence gathering _is_ my specialty.”

Aomine laughs, “You can be scary when you want to be.” Satsuki’s smile just grows. “And thanks. It was really pissing me off that someone-” he stops, remembering that flippy feeling he’s been getting in his stomach. Confronting those guys seems to have helped, but his stomach flutters at the thought that he might not always be around to help Tetsu.

“I know,” Satsuki says softly. “I feel that way too. Let’s head home, Dai-chan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short, but the next chapter didn't make a lot of sense without this one. Next chapter should be up soon~


	4. Chapter Four

Akashi let Kuroko play during practice the next day, and while Tetsu seemed uncomfortable sometimes, he made it all the way through practice just fine. After everyone had cleared out and Aomine got ready to continue one-on-one practice with Tetsu like he promised, Tetsu said something that almost made him choke.

“Everyone got along together very well during practice today.”

“U-uh really? I didn’t notice.” It’s true, he hadn’t noticed, but they’d all worked together to get revenge for Tetsu, and, for the day at least, it made the normally irritating things about the others just seem quirky and harmless.

“Yes. Even Murasakibara-kun and Midorima-kun didn’t argue,” Kuroko scratches his cheek, looking up at the ceiling, “about everything,” he looks back at Aomine, “less than normal.”

Aomine laughs, tossing Tetsu the ball, “I’m surprised it’s possible to tell the difference.” Tetsu hums thoughtfully. “Maybe we were all just happy to have you back in practice again. It’s not the same without your awesome passes.”

Kuroko huffs; he couldn’t possibly affect the mood of the group that much. Was Aomine making fun of him? “That’s stupid, Aomine-kun.”

Aomine raises his eyebrows at him, “Ehhhhh? What the hell does that mean?”

Kuroko frowns slightly. “Let’s just play, Aomine-kun.”

“Uh, sure, Tetsu.”

As they trade off on offense and defense, Tetsu still can’t keep up with him, but neither can Aomine fake him out, and that’s the best part about practicing with him; that’s how Tetsu helps him improve. Some day he’ll be able to trick even Tetsu.

Thump!

“Hey, are you ok?” Aomine, no longer interested in what's happening to the ball he’d just thrown at the hoop, stares at Tetsu, who is sitting on the ground, legs splayed out, taking very rapid, shallow breaths. It’s disconcerting because he’d just passed his shadow, and the thump he’d heard almost immediately afterwards made it very clear that Tetsu hadn’t sat down on purpose.

“I’m… ok… Aomine… kun,” Kuroko answers, probably unconvincingly, between gasps for air. It _hurts_. His chest hurts, just below the sternum, making it hard to take deep breaths. He’d managed to get through practice fine, but he has to reluctantly accept that staying after with Aomine may have not been the wisest decision. It’s so frustrating.

Aomine wants to call Tetsu a liar, but his shadow has a hand fisted in his shirt, mouth open as he struggles to take in air, and decides that would be mean; Tetsu isn’t even trying to stand, so it probably hurts to breathe pretty bad. Instead Aomine grabs the ball and plops down next to Tetsu, passing the ball from one hand to the other slowly. The look Tetsu gives him is just short of a glare.

Aomine doesn’t seem impatient or bored, but Kuroko punches him in the arm once he can breathe well enough that he isn’t lightheaded anymore, anyway. He wants to get up, but his legs just won’t move, however he accidentally kicks Aomine’s shin with his shoe. Aomine-kun is so much taller than him, with his long, tan legs. His hands must be much bigger too. Kuroko’s never really thought about it before.

Aomine rubs his shoulder where Tetsu hit him, glowering, even though he’s not actually mad. Tetsu is just frustrated. He gets that, so he’s going to give him a pass. Just this once. What little color Tetsu has is already starting to return, making the gross, yellow-brown edging of the bruise healing on his cheek even more cringe-worthy. Suddenly Tetsu grabs the wrist of Aomine's right arm, pulling it towards him, and the ball bounces noisily away. “Oi! Tetsu! What are you-” Tetsu puts the palm of his right hand against Aomine’s, making a thoughtful noise. Aomine flushes because Tetsu doesn’t immediately let go of his hand and where the hell did this come from anyway and what is he supposed to do about it?

“I’m sorry Aomine-kun,” Kuroko says, letting go of his wrist and dropping his hands back in his lap. “I am always causing problems for everyone.” He stares down at his right palm, still warm from the space heater in boy form next to him. Aomine is just staring at him, not responding. He must agree. Kuroko sighs, placing his palms on the cool, smooth floor to push himself into a standing position.

Aomine realizes he should have said something and not had his brain short out when Tetsu starts to stand, and grabs his wrist to pull him back down. Tetsu reluctantly joins him back on the floor, cross-legged this time. “What?”

Kuroko’s attention drops to the white tape on the ground as he mumbles his clarification. “I wasn’t strong enough and got hurt, and inconvenienced everyone. I know everyone is mad at me.”

“Tetsu,” Aomine gapes, trying to figure out how Tetsu can be so observant and oblivious at the same time. Outside of basketball, Aomine really _doesn’t_ get Tetsu at all. “Tetsu, nobody’s mad at you. Why would you even think that?"

Sky blue eyes turn back towards Aomine, and his mouth is a thin line before he speaks again, “Because I wouldn’t tell.” He takes a breath, “Because I missed practice.”

“You didn’t… you can’t… how would you even-” Aomine gives up trying to come up with a coherent sentence to encompass just how wrong Tetsu is at the moment. He presses his hands to the sides of his head in disbelief, and then when Tetsu looks back down, still frowning, he flicks him in the forehead. “Idiot! We’re not mad at you! We’re mad at the guys that hit you,” Without considering what he’s doing, Aomine reaches out, brushing his thumb very lightly over the healing cut on Tetsu’s lip, “who did that to you just because you’re nice to the point of stupid. We-” He jerks his hand away from Tetsu’s face, finally realizing what he was doing. Tetsu’s staring at him, eyes wide and thoughtful, and while his cheeks are pink he seems strangely _not_ creeped out by him touching his mouth like some weirdo.

“Aomine-kun is not mad at me?” Kuroko absently licks his lower lip because Aomine’s sweat is salty and stings a little. But why did he touch him like that? He must really not be mad at him. But then what is Aomine feeling? Kuroko shifts so that he’s facing his light to get a better look at him, kneeling. Actually Aomine looks very panicked. "I'm glad Aomine-kun's not mad at me, but something is wrong. What is it?"

Aomine's mouth opens, closes, and opens again, but still nothing comes out of it. He feels really hot and doesn't want to say the problem is that he just came to an ephiny that he quite likes his shadow, like, like likes and wants to do more to those lips than just touch them. Holy shit. This is bad. If he tells Tetsu, Tetsu who is clearly not getting it, he will- ok wait. He really has no idea how Tetsu will take it. He tolerates Satsuki touching him about as much as he does Kise, and just seems to ignore the fuzzy feeling implications of all of the attention. Aw fuck, Satsuki. Even if Tetsu doesn't take her seriously, she does. What kind of asshole would he be... but what if... argh!

"Aomine-kun?" Kuroko tilts his head, trying to get a better angle of his light's flushed face, hoping it will help him understand what is going on in his head. Who has had that same expression before? Kise? He's had a similar expression, but hadn't explained it, so that's not helpful. Ah! Yes, he has seen a very similar expression on another student, with a girl he was confessing to while neither of them seemed to realize he was sitting right across from them, reading his book. But why would Aomine... oh.

Before Aomine has enough time to stop floundering on his own, Tetsu gets the 'I'm watching people' blank look, even though he's staring straight at him. He would start sweating if he hadn't already been doing so profusely during practice. He can't handle this intense scrutiny, so he stands, running after the ball.

"Does Aomine-kun want to be my boyfriend?"

"What?" Aomine squawks and imagines Tetsu is probably silently laughing at him behind his back. Wait. He turns around as a question bubbles up, and Tetsu is just standing there, completely relaxed. Maybe. "Wait, were you asking if I want to, you know... what you just said, or asking if I would... uh... if I was going to ask you... that?"

Tetsu scratches his cheek. "I don't know. I forgot to decide before asking."

"Tetsu!" Aomine exclaims, throwing the basketball at his shadow, who catches it easily, holding it between his palms.

Kuroko rotates the ball with small flips of his fingertips, a little proud of himself for getting it right. But Aomine-kun has asked him a very good question. He's honestly never thought about it. He likes Aomine-kun a lot. He is his best friend, since Ogiwara-kun moved away. Is the answer in why he likes it when Aomine-kun ruffles his hair, but it just irritates him when anyone else does? That he gets really happy when Aomine puts his arm around his shoulders and grins at him? Why he thinks Aomine's laugh is better than anyone else's? "I think I like Aomine-kun. Is that ok?"

Aomine's entire body floods with lava for a moment. "Uh... yeah, that's fine. I guess. I... yeah... um," he scratches the back of his neck while Tetsu levels an unfairly calm gaze on him, "yeah, me too."

A small smile turns up the corners of Tetsu's mouth, pulling at the scab he'd just touched. "Aomine-kun likes himself too?"

"No, you idiot!" He explodes, flailing, "I like _you_!" His mouth promptly snaps shut as the declaration bounces off the walls, loud.

Kuroko laughs softly, looking away because the loud echo in the otherwise empty court is somewhat embarrassing. Without quite looking at him, he walks over to Aomine, holding the ball towards him, his arms still mostly bent at his sides.

Blushing furiously, Aomine places his hands over Tetsu's on the ball and leans down, then hesitates. Tetsu doesn't move or speak, just looks back at him, so he very lightly presses his lips against his shadow's. Tetsu doesn't move, in fact he's keeping very very still. Aomine pulls back, heart hammering, getting ready to run depending on Tetsu's expression.

It's that observational blank, blue eyes wider than normal. Then he lets go of the ball, leaving it in Aomine's hands, so that he can bunch up Aomine's tank-top with his fingers, rising up on the balls of his feet to kiss him back. Aomine very carefully runs the tip of his tongue over the cut, faintly feeling the bumpy texture of the scab before Tetsu's lips part, letting him in. Neither of them make any noise, and it's amazing and awkward all at once.

After several seconds, Kuroko teeters, and then pulls away, standing flat on the ground again, absently running his lips across the back of his hand. "We should go home, Aomine-kun."

"What?!"

"School will close soon," Kuroko prompted.

"Oh shit! Right! Let's go!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking of continuing this, but things just go downhill from here until Aomine loses, and I don't think I can handle it. *rolls away*


End file.
